Lenovo Pauses Moto 360 Due to Lack of Interest in Smartwatches

Lenovo has now confirmed that it will not be launching a new smartwatch along with the Android Wear 2.0 next year. The company had earlier said that they would not be releasing a smartwatch in 2016 but now it seems that the timeline has been pushed beyond early 2017, despite the fact that Android 2.0 will be heralding in early 2017.

This is what Shakil Bakat, head of global product development at Moto had to say, he said that the company doesn’t “see enough pull in the market to put [a new smartwatch] out at this time,” though it may revisit the market in the future should technologies for the wrist improve. “Wearables do not have broad enough appeal for us to continue to build on it year after year.” This inadvertently means that the smartwatch will no more figure out in the Moto’s roadmap.

This doesn’t come as a surprise since IDC numbers have shown how the global market share for smartwatches is taking a plunge, in fact, the report goes on and further says that Smartwatch share has fallen by 55% Year on. Smartwatches, especially the Android Wear devices have not been faring well in the market in the recent past and this has forced some of the companies to shift their focus from the smartwatch. The very fact that Google itself delayed the Android wear 2 from launching is a tell tale sign of how things are limping when it comes to the smartwatch segment. Also, Pebble, a company that was at its peak only a couple of years ago has reportedly been acquired by Fitbit in a distress sale with devalued assets.

Moto 360 had been originally released in 2014 after which the smartphone got an iterative upgrade in 2015. The Android 2.0 update will only be available for the Moto 360 2nd Gen while the first gen is expected to be left crippled with the Android Wear. That said Moto is not sure if they will take a plunge and rejoin the smartwatch market but instead keeps the possibility open, talking about the future plans Barkat said, “We believe the wrist still has value and there will be a point where they provide value to consumers more than they do today.” That said the chances are very bleak when it comes to getting a new Moto 360 in the imminent future. On a related note, it would be interesting to see whether Google’s upcoming Android watches will be delayed as well.

Mahit Huilgol Ex-Author Mahit Huilgol is a Mechanical Engineering graduate and is a Technology and Automobile aficionado. He ditched the Corporate boardroom wars in favor of technology battleground. Also, a foodie by heart and loves both the edible chips and the non-edible silicon chips.